


Leave it in the lost and found

by Lilly_C



Series: Snowflake Challenge [8]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Abandonment, Angst, Emotional Hurt, F/M, Fandom Snowflake Challenge, Post-Canon, Resentment, Reunions, Snowflake Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:20:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29606580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilly_C/pseuds/Lilly_C
Summary: “You disappeared,” Sam snapped. “Nobody knew where you were.”
Relationships: Samantha "Sam" Carter/Daniel Jackson
Series: Snowflake Challenge [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1850068
Kudos: 1
Collections: Fandom Snowflake Challenge





	Leave it in the lost and found

**Author's Note:**

> No spoilers, set post-canon. Written for snowflake_challenge [11 – create a fanwork](https://snowflake-challenge.dreamwidth.org/54255.html) and there is also a [small playlist](https://alittleimprobable.dreamwidth.org/270133.html). Any mistakes are my own and unintentional.

Daniel had reached his destination after being denied access to the base at the first checkpoint on orders from the new General. It had been Walter, who watched him arguing with the SF at the gate, a young man, who looked like he wanted the ground to open so that he could hide from the undeserved wrath he was currently receiving.

Walter had successfully managed to gently persuade Daniel to walk away and get back in his car, giving him the home address of the General with a moderately threatening _to go easy on her, she has had a tough time recently_ warning. Daniel managed a small smile at the Sergeant's obvious protectiveness towards most, if not all the personnel on the base, especially his former teammates.

Sam stealthily glanced out of the window when she heard a car stop in the driveway, her heart sinking when she recognised the sole occupant of the vehicle. _Why is he here?_ she wondered while waiting for him to make a move and come to the door and face her or drive away and leave like a coward once again. 

Cassie was still away for a few more days and now she was going to have to act like she hadn’t been expecting any visitors after receiving a text from Walter letting her know that Daniel was on his way over and he was angry.

Hearing the familiar ding-dong of the doorbell, Sam let out an audible sigh before quickly checking her appearance in the hallway mirror _it has been years and I still do this every time I see him_ she mentally scolded herself for wearing an oversized hoodie with leggings and slippers, her hair tied back in a messy ponytail. 

Hesitating for a beat, she finally opened the door to him carefully taking in his equally dishevelled appearance, she considered closing the door in his face, but decided against it when she recognised the weary and withdrawn look for what it was – a man who ran away to face his demons alone and failed. “Come in, excuse the mess, I've got Cassie's kid while she's at a conference.”

Daniel hung his travel bag on a hook by the door before following Sam into the living room where he saw a toddler asleep in the recliner chair beside the window. “How old?” He quietly asked, although he was curious, he was also feeling awkward for not knowing something as important as this.

He had missed out on so much during the four years he was gone, and it was going to take a lot of work to make amends with everyone, Sam was the first person on his list because he still felt guilty for abandoning her when she needed him.

Sam was deliberately keeping her back to him, busying herself with picking up some of the toys and games that were scattered around the room, placing them inside the playpen in the corner. “Almost three. She's a good kid.”

Daniel shoved his hands into his pockets recognising that her tidying up was a way of avoiding having the conversation he had finally worked up the nerve to come back to Colorado Springs and have with her. “You're wondering why today?” Deliberately keeping the loaded question as casual as possible until he could gauge her reaction.

Sam stopped collecting the toys, turning to face him for only the second time since he’d arrived. She replied, “Not really Daniel. I knew that you would come back one day. It's who you are, it's what you do.”

“What?” He seethed, clearly stunned by the seemingly personal attack from someone he still considered to be his best friend and his family. It stung even though she had a valid point.

“You disappeared,” Sam snapped. “Nobody knew where you were.”

Daniel watched the conflicting emotions play out on her features, giving a slight nod for her to carry on with what she obviously needed to say to him to get it all off her chest and out into the open.

“I travelled to all of the places you had told me about, the ones where you had lived and worked on digs before coming to work on the Stargate Project, then I looked for you for almost two years in countless cities and countries. I had to stop when Cassie told me she was pregnant.” She paused for a few seconds. “I needed you here and it was like you didn't want to be found, when I eventually gave up my search it felt even worse than all of the times you died because it made me realise that you were never coming back home.”

Feeling chastised, Daniel refrained from saying _“I guess I didn't want to be found. By you.”_ Taking a moment to regain his composure, he said, “It wasn't that I didn't want to be found Sam, but with the team going our separate ways, again, after that last mission, I just felt like I no longer had a place here that I was being abandoned all over again like I had been after my parents died and I handled it by the doing the things I got good at. Running away and hiding.”

Sam glared at him for trying to use his past as his excuse for leaving, she could tell that he was hiding something, so she decided to just go what she wanted to say. “That’s bullshit Daniel and you know it. I almost died when that creature on P5C-22 pierced my chest and its tendrils attached to my heart and lungs and you left while I was still in the infirmary. What happened to keeping a bedside vigil until the doctor agreed to release whoever was sick or injured? That was our unspoken rule, the team rule that nobody on that base dare try to overrule.”

Daniel went to the kitchen to try and put a little distance between them, it didn’t work, she followed him. He looked at her before speaking. “You’re right Sam, my reasons are bullshit. I couldn’t stay because I was convinced that you were going to die and there was no way I could have lived with myself and the knowledge that you died because of my mistake.”

Sam flinched at his honesty although she’d spent almost an hour coaxing it out of him. “There was no mistake, Daniel. We all believed that the creatures were docile until I accidentally shone my flash light onto its husk, and it launched through the air and landed on my chest.”

“Everyone blamed me Sam, because I tried to pull it off and it burrowed deeper into your skin and organs. Mitchell had already handed in his resignation to General Landry, Vala and Teal’c both requested to live off-world and I didn’t know what I wanted to do or where I wanted to go.”

“Cam’s resignation wasn’t accepted and he’s now training pilots at the Academy. Vala is still a member of SG-1 and Teal’c is training SG teams off-world. They all come around a lot.” 

“You got promoted to General.”

“Yeah, it’s my only promotion that you weren’t present for,” she said, closing the distance between them, Sam gently touched his arm. “It’s not your fault,” she softly spoke, “I never blamed you.”

Fighting the threatening tears Daniel felt her arms go around him and let go of the guilt and blame he’d been holding onto all these years. “Do you want to know where I’ve been?” he sobbed.

“Only if you want to tell me.”

“Denver. I took a job at a high school there, teaching history to eleventh grade kids.”

Sam let out a soft chuckle at his admission. “All this time you’ve been living and working an hour away.”

Carefully pulling away from the embrace, Daniel stiffened slightly when he heard a noise from the living room. “Give me a minute?” Sam requested. Daniel nodded, letting her go while he helped himself to a glass of water to ease his dry throat.

Sam returned to Daniel, carrying the child on her hip who hid her face in the crook of her neck. “She’s not usually shy. Emilia, sweetie, this is Daniel.”  
Carefully glancing at the strange man standing in the kitchen, she haltingly smiled at him. “Hi,” she said, quickly hiding her face again. 

Daniel recognised the young girl’s reluctance to accept a stranger in her family home. “I should get going, I need to find a hotel for tonight because I can’t get onto the base any more.”

“That was me. Sorry. I’ll call Walter later and he’ll sort that out.”

Sam felt Emilia's breath tickle her ear. “Here?” she spoke so quietly that only Sam could hear what she had said.

Looking at Sam and the girl, Daniel waited for what felt like ten minutes when it was only a handful of seconds before Sam said, “Stay here, there’s a spare room upstairs. We can go to the base tomorrow and get those things organised for you unless you’re planning on going back to Denver.”

“I’d like that but only if it’s okay with you Emilia.” He smiled when she nodded. “My contract at the school finished at the end of the semester.”


End file.
